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Hearing: It’s So Much More Than Ears!
By Dr. Deborah Dempesy
You are familiar with the well worn adage “use it or lose it”. The term usually refers to muscle or brain power--if you don’t exercise, the muscles lose strength; if you don’t challenge your brain, it will lose the ability to think clearly, quickly, and sharply.
With regard to hearing loss, I venture to say that if a person knows he or she has a hearing loss, that person thinks the loss stops there. They say to themselves, “So what if I have to ask someone to repeat; so what if I get only part of what was said and fill in the rest haphazardly. No harm done!”
Well, it’s time to reconsider. Here’s why. If the auditory (hearing) system is not stimulated with sound, the auditory nerves lose their ability to process speech and sounds around us. And where do those nerves end up? The brain!
Research studies from the early 1990s to the present continue to confirm that hearing loss, even a mild hearing loss, can cause brain atrophy (nerve damage). Remember that your ears are just the conduit to your brain; you may think your ears hear, but it is your brain that translates the sound waves that enter your ears into meaningful expression.
A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Journal of Neuroscience 2011), shows that decline in hearing ability may accelerate a decline in those areas of the brain that control hearing, and actually result in making it more difficult for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.
When a sense (taste, smell, sight, hearing, touch) is altered, the brain reorganizes and adjusts.
In the case of poor hearers, researchers found that the amount of gray matter (brain tissue) in the auditory areas was lower in people with decreased hearing ability, suggesting a link between hearing ability and brain volume.
“As hearing ability declines with age, interventions such as hearing aids should be considered not only to improve hearing but to preserve the brain”, said lead author Jonathan Peele PhD Research Associate with the Department of Neurology.
We have known about this phenomenon for many years. Our initial understanding began years ago when people thought that one hearing aid would be successful for treating hearing loss in both ears. Over a short period of time, audiologists began to recognize that repeated hearing evaluations showed a significant decline of hearing and speech understanding, in the unaided ear, that is, the ear that was NOT stimulated.
Most people have hearing loss in both ears and require both ears to be aided with hearing devices in order that 1) hearing is maximized in noisy listening situations that we are all confronted with, and 2) to preserve and stimulate the auditory nerves of both ears.
Speech understanding testing demonstrates how well the auditory part of the brain synthesizes and organizes speech sounds into patterns that make words and sentences. At All Ears Hearing Center, we routinely test for speech understanding in both a quiet environment and when exposed to background noise.
The more quickly we treat and address hearing loss, the better our brains can adjust to amplification. Keeping the hearing center of the brain active will help it stay healthy. This is our primary message to the clients we see.
If the stigma of wearing hearing aids prevents you from seeking help for hearing loss, know that today’s technology offers small and inconspicuous hearing devices which essentially are “sophisticated miniature computers for our ears”.
Remember: “Use it or Lose it!”
Baseline audiograms are recommended at age 50 or sooner if you are at high risk for hearing loss. Call All Ears Hearing Center and see your Doctor of Audiology today.
Dr. Deborah Dempesy
Dr. Dempesy obtained her Masters in Audiology at Northwestern University in Evanston IL in 1982. She received her Doctorate in Audiology at the Salus University (previously known as The Pennsylvania College of Optometry and Audiology) in Pennsylvania in 2007. Dr. Dempesy worked with developmentally delayed hearing-impaired children in the Chicago area for two years from 1980-1982, moved back to her home state of Massachusetts and was Clinical Director of Audiology at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital for 14 years. She consulted, performing research with manufacturers of hearing devices and volunteered on the Massachusetts Infant Hearing Screening Task Force until a law was passed that required all infants to have their hearing screened before discharge from the hospital or birthing clinic.
Dr. Dempesy has been a board member of the Massachusetts Academy of Audiology, volunteering her time to continue quality education of audiologists in the Massachusetts area.
Recently Dr. Dempesy worked for a major hearing device manufacturer, providing training and education on new technology to audiologists in the New England area. The combination of these experiences gives her an exceptionally well-rounded perspective that she passes on to her patients.
In addition, Dr. Dempesy is a member of the American Academy of Audiology, The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Tinnitus Association, Educational Audiology Association and the Aural Rehabilitation Association. She is licensed to practice as an audiologist in the state of Massachusetts.
Personally, Dr. Dempesy’s immediate family consists of her partner and 23 year old daughter. In her free time, Dr. Dempesy loves to ocean kayak, run, rock climb, hike, read, watch movies and spend time with her sisters, brother and parents in western Massachusetts.
All Ears Hearing Center, Inc.
59 Industrial Park
Plymouth, MA 02360
www.allearshearing.net
(508) 747-4055 (800) 649-4054 (617) 510-5254
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